Title page for ETD etd-01262005-155314

Digging Through Discarded Identity: Archaeological Investigations around the Kitchen and the Overseer's House at Whitney Plantation, Louisiana

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Geography & Anthropology

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name

Title

Heather McKillop

Committee Chair

Miles Richardson

Committee Member

Rob Mann

Committee Member

Keywords

Louisiana

plantation

historical archaeology

identity

Date of Defense

2004-12-10

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

During the mid-nineteenth century, the Haydel family was prominent sugar planters in southern Louisiana. Their plantation, Whitney Plantation (16SJB11), lies on the highway 18 on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Wallace, Louisiana. During the summer of 2002 archaeological investigations were conducted around the kitchen and the overseer’s house, in order to collect a sample of materials associated with these occupants. I hoped that the artifacts could yield information on how the planter and overseer family represented themselves materially. Although what I excavated was the discarded remnants of the Haydel family’s life, these remnants offer an understanding of how these people lived their lives. I hoped to learn about how this French Creole family represented themselves materially. These materials are a reflection of the active choices the occupants at Whitney Plantation. The occupants, as consumers, were part of a larger market economy. It is my belief that the materials chosen by those who lived on Whitney Plantation were a manifestation of their identity.